January19, 2019

Congratulations to Tammy Douglass Smith, Principal at Van R. Butler Elementary, for receiving the Principal of the Year Award for Walton County School District! Mrs. Smith has served for 36 years in WCSD, and has been principal at at VRB since 2005. Under her leadership, Van R. Butler Elementary has been named an A+ school since the 2006-2007 school year. We are so proud of Mrs. Smith and all of her contributions to the lives of so many students through the years. VRB is currently the largest school in the district with over 1100 students. Mrs. Smith, you are EPIC in every sense of the word, and we are blessed to have you in the Walton County School District!

Congratulations to the 2019 Walton County Assistant Principal of the Year, Mr. James Ross, at South Walton High School! Mr. Ross has been at SWHS since 2011, serving 2 years as teacher on special assignment, and then Assistant Principal. Mr. Ross has seen SWHS grow from 541 students in 2011 to 894 students in 2019, and has been instrumental in helping the school maintain the status of A+ school consistently during this time period. We are proud to have Mr. James Ross as our Assistant Principal of the Year!

January18, 2019

January18, 2019

Walton County School District is proud to introduce our 2019 Teacher of the Year, Meredith Ness!! Mrs. Ness is a 4th grade teacher with 16 years of experience, 8 of those years at Mossy Head Elementary School. She is a dedicated professional who is highly respected and appreciated by her colleages and administration. Mrs. Ness posesses the skill and dedication of a true leader. She currently serves Mossy Head Elementary as professional learning facilitator, Lego League and Robotics club sponsor, a teacher mentor, and member of the MHS School Improvement team. Mrs. Ness is highly knowledgeable on cutting edge research in education and new strategies in technology. She has a deep and genuine love for teaching, and is the model of a true lifelong learner. Congratulations again to Meredith Ness, 2019 Walton County Teacher of the Year!

Our Educational Support Professional of the Year 2019 is Mr. Eddie Farris! Mr. Farris has been with Walton County School District for 7 years, and currently serves as Plant Manager at Freeport Elementary School. Mr. Farris, in addition to demonstrating excellence in his daily responsibilities, is beloved by his administration and colleagues for his positive attitude, and caring consideration for the needs of the students and staff at Freeport Elementary. He works collaboratively with the administration, teachers, and the FES PTO to coordinate special events such as Fall Festival and Movie Nights. Mr. Farris is always ready, willing, and more than capable to manage any task he is assigned, and does so with a genuine smile and warm heart! Congratulations to Mr. Eddie Farris, 2019 Walton County Educational Support Professional of the Year!

January17, 2019

Walton High School would like to welcome their new band director, Mr. Peter Muller! Mr. Muller is pictured here working with the All-County band in a practice session at Freeport High School on January 15! Submitted by Christy English

January16, 2019

In Miss McMillan's computer class, sixth graders have been learning about coding. For practice, the students participated in Hour of Code with code.org. The students were able to create algorithms for some of their favorite games, such as Angry Birds, Minecraft, and many others. The students learned a lot about coding and had an EPIC time doing it! Submitted by Kalli McMillan

January16, 2019

After coming back from Christmas break, Paxton's middle and high school enjoyed the annual Career Day. Students had the opportunity to talk to people in various careers. They were able to learn about careers, from a chef to an engineer. They were able to ask questions and learn more about the requirements for different careers. Also, the students were able to talk to repsresentatives from Northwest Florida State College and Enterprise State Community College. PHS would like to say a special thanks to the speakers, AVID teachers: Susan Rockman and Lesley Chest, and the rest of the AVID committee.

January16, 2019

The South Walton High School Student Government attended the January 15,2019 meeting of the Walton County School Board as part of their training with SGA sponsor, Joan Kennett. Greg Garrett, President of the SWHS SGA, spoke to the Board Members and Superintendent, thanking them for their dedication and diligence to provide the students of Walton County with quality education, in a safe and learning-condusive environment. When asked about the assignment, Ms. Kennett, who is also the 2018 WCSD Teacher of the Year, shared the following:

"As student leaders in the school, it is my belief that our student leaders attend a School Board meeting to provide an opportunity to see our governing body at work. For our students to grow, learn and become empowered, they must embrace as many opportunities to help them become better leaders and what better way than to witness our school board leaders in action. For many parents and students, some have never attended a school board meeting. I don't want my students to miss out on opportunities that will enhance their future decisions as leaders as they move into their future careers. I believe attending will provide my student leaders to build relationships with school board members in a positive direction and see first hand our governing body work collaboratively in decision making. They saw first hand how important our community and students are in Walton County. Following the meeting, my students had many positive comments and were truly impressed with the meeting. And of course, they became excited when the dignitaries were discussing the new addition to SWHS and the new Dune Lake Elementary."

Congratulations to these students for their involvement in student government, and their presence at the meeting. These are some of the future leaders of our county, school district, state and country. The future is in good hands!

January16, 2019

Congratulations to our elementary and secondary Teachers of the Year and our ESP of the Year. Pictured here (L to R): Elementary Teacher of the Year - Samie Wright, Secondary Teacher of the Year - Kim Davenport, Principal Cindy Neale, and ESP of the Year - Nicole Cain